Web cutting and sheet forwarding mechanism for printing machines



p 28, 1937. A. M. ZUCKERMAVNIN I 2,094,033

WEB CUTTING AND SHEET FORWARDING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINES Filed July 27, 1934 4 Sheeis-Sheet 1 Ari-Y.

Sept. 28, 1937. A. M. ZUCKERMAN WEB CUTTING AND SHEET FORWARDING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINES Filed July 27, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 JNYENTOR.

Sept 1937- A. M. ZUCKERMAN 2,094,033

WEB CUTTING AND SHEET FORWARDING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINES Filed July 27, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVEN'I'OR FIG.3.

Sept. 28, 1937. A. M. ZUCKERMAN WEB CUTTING AND SHEET FORWARDING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINES Filed July 27, 1934 F'IG.4-. 27

4 Sheets-Sheet 4 l "1"" h x/ M INVENTOR.

We) M Patented Sept. 28, 1 937 PATENT OFFICE WEB CUTTING AND SHEET FORWARDING.

MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINES Adolph M. Zuckerman, New York, N. Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to R. Hoe & Co. Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application July 27, 1934, Serial No. 737,198

14 Claims. (Cl. 101-224) This invention relates to a web feeding and cutting mechanism which is adapted for use with a printing machine and more particularly to an arrangement in which a web is fed through a rotary cutting mechanism and cut into sheets and the sheets are fed to the printing cylinders.

One object of the invention is to provide a feeding mechanism whereby a web may be fed between two rotary cutter members and in which 10 the web is adapted to be maintained in a taut tensioned condition while feeding and during the cutting operation.

Another object is to first feed the web to the rotary cutting mechanism to be cut into sheets,

5 then to feed the sheets to the printing cylinders at a higher speed and at substantially the same rate of speed as the rotation of the printing cylinders.

Another object is to direct the web through the cutter mechanism and the sheets to the printing cylinders in a substantially vertical pathto thereby avoid the use of tapes or similar members such as are required when feeding the web horizontally.

It is a further object of the invention to provide sheet feeding mechanism of generally improved construction whereby the device will be simple, durable and inexpensive in construction as well as convenient, practical, serviceable and efiicient in use. I

With the foregoing and other objects not specifically referred to in view, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a printing machine and shows the web being fed to the cutting mechanism and the first pair of printing cylinders in a vertical direction;

Figure 2 is a side elevation on an enlarged scale of the web feeding, cutting and sheet feeding mechanism;

Figure 3 is a front view of Figure 2 taken in the direction of the arrow F3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a view, taken in the direction of the arrow F--4 of Figure 2 showing the cutting cylinder supporting member and drive; and

Figure 5 is a still further enlarged view taken in the direction of the arrow F5 of Figure 2 and shows the speed changing mechanism for varying the eed at which the web is fed to vary the length of heets.

Referring to Figures 1, 2 and 3 and particularly Figure 1, the reference character I! designates a frame structure on which the various mechanisms of a printing machine are carried. While a complete printing mechanism is shown in said 5 Figure l, the only portion of the mechanism which is of particular interest in this application is that which takes in the feed of the web to the cutting mechanism where it is cut into sheets, and the feed of the cut sheets to the first set of printing cylinders. It will be understood, therefore, that when the printing cylinders are hereinafter mentioned in the specification and claims. the statements will refer to said first set of printing cylinders only.

A web roll I2, suitably mounted on the frame I I, has its web W guided over suitable guide rolls I3 and a drop roll I4 in the usual manner to a pair of driven rollers I5--I5 and an idler roller I6. Said driven rollers are journalled in bearings located within the side walls of the frame ll, while the idler roller is loosely mounted within yoked supporting brackets H, which permit said roll to lie between and on the driven rollers I5 I5. Pressure is thus applied against the web and each of the driven rollers I5 since the said web is led around the inner surface of one driven roller I5, then over the top of the idle roller I6 and over the inner surface of the second driven roller I5, as clearly shown in Figure 1.

From the latter position, the web drops downward and passes between a pair of rotary cutter cylinders l8--l8 whereby it is cut into sheets which then pass between two sets of feed rollers, an upper set l9 and a lower set 2!, and from the lower set of feed rollers 2| said sheets pass directly to the printing cylinders, which cylinders include a form cylinder 22 and an impression cylinder 23, suitably mounted upon the machine frame.

The rotary cutting mechanism used in conjunction with the web feeding mechanism in this application is preferably of the same type as that illustrated and described in Patent No. 1,558,140. Said mechanism includes the two cutting cylinders l8l8, which are rotatably supported in suitable bearings provided in a pivotal frame 30 and are normally spaced apart to permit free passage of the web therebetween. A pair of shearing knives 20, 20 are mounted in said cutting cylinders with their knife edges extending beyond the periphery of the cylinders and in such mannor as to preferably engage the web only at their cutting edges and to produce a straight, clean, shear cut when their edges contact the running web.

The cutting cylinders are driven at a constant speed through a drive gear 26, secured at one end 24 of a printing cylinder supporting shaft, and a gear drive located between said shaft and the cutting cylinders. The gear 26 is adapted to be driven by the main machine drive, not shown. As best shown in Figures 2 and 3, the said gear drive for rotating the cutting cylinders comprises a series of gears indicated by the reference characters 21, which include two bevel gears on a suitably supported vertical shaft 26, two bevel gears on a suitably supported horizontal shaft 29 and a bevel gear 3| on a shaft extending from one of the cutting cylinders It. A bevel gear 25 on the end of the printing cylinder'shaft 24, opposite the end on which the drive gear 26 is mounted, meshes with the lower bevel gear 21 on the vertical shaft 28 and thus completes the drive between the gear 26 and the cutting cylinder.

The pivotal frame member 30 is supported in a manner clearly shown in Figure 4 and generally comprises a rectangular frame structure having two extended arms 33-33 at one end and two extended arms 40-40 at the opposite end thereof. The arms 33-33 are pivotally mounted on the horizontal gear supporting shaft 29, while the arms 40-40 are vertically movable within an opening in the frame A slot and stud connection is provided in each of the arms 40-40, as indicated at 50-50 to permit the frame 30 to be pivoted about the shaft 29 and to be clamped in a desired adjusted position, said adjusted position being provided through an adjusting screw actuated means indicated generally at 32, Figures 2 and 3. With this arrangement of the pivotal frame 30, it is thus possible to change the angular position of the putting knives 20, the features and details of which are fully described in the aforementioned patent.

The driven web feed rollers |5-|5, which are located directly above the cutting cylinders |8-I8, receive their drive through a train of gears 34, suitably mounted on the frame II, and geared to the aforementioned continuously driven horizontal drive shaft 29 through a bevel gear 35 on said shaft and a bevel gear 36. (See Figure 4). Said bevel gear 36 is mounted on a stub shaft 31 on which one of the gears 34 is also mounted and thus drives the train of gears. Gears 38-38 are also provided on the projecting shaft ends of the feed rollers |5-l5, as indicated in Figures 3 and 4, and have an idler gear 39 interposed therebetween and in mesh therewith, one of said gears 38 also being in engagement with one of the train of gears 34.

Further provision is made to vary the speed of the web feeding rollers |5-|5 to thereby increase or decrease the amount of web which passes between the cutting cylinders and to vary the length of the sheets which are cut. Said provision includes a means for supplying change gears and comprises an arm 4|, pivotally mounted on a stud 42, which stud also carries one of the train of gears 34 and said gear meshes with one of the gears 38 and another of the gears 34 which is located at the outer end of the arm. One of a number of change gears 34a of varying diameters is mounted on a stud 43, which stud also has one of the gears 34 mounted thereon, and is adapted to mesh with the gear at the outer end of the arm 4| to thus complete the driving relation of the entire gear train with the feed rollers 38-38. By replacing the gear 34a with any one of the other gears having varying diameters, the web feed can be increased or decreased as desired.

After a change of gears has been made the arm 4| is clamped in a fixed position by means of a clamp nut 63, which is slidably positioned in a suitable slot in a supporting bracket 64 on the machine frame.

While the cutting cylinders I6 are rotated at a constant speed with relation to the machine and the web feeding rollers |5-I5 are driven at a variable speed, the feed rollers indicated at l9 and 2|, which are located below the cutting cylinders, are driven at the peripheral surface speed of the printing cylinders, which speed is greater than the highest speed of the feeding rollers |5-| 5.

The said feeding rollers I9 and 2| preferably comprise several individual roller members which are secured to shafts 44 and 45 respectively, said shafts being suitably mounted within bearings in the machine frame H and each shaft having a gear 6| and 62 thereon respectively, as shown in Figure 3. A driving gear 48 is secured to one end of the printing cylinder drive shaft 24, adjacent the bevel gear 25, and with the addition of two idler gears 49-49, mounted on suitable studs in the frame II, a completed drive for the feed rollers I9 and 2| is provided. Pressure roller members are provided, which are adapted to engage each of the feed rollers l9 and 2| and comprise an upper set 5l-and a lower set 52, each of which are rotatably mounted at the end of individual arms 53 and 54 for both the upper and lower sets of pressure rollers respectively, and each set of arms are mounted on supporting bars 55 and 56 respectively. Each of the arms 53 and 54 is in dividually adjustable on its shaft and may be set in an adjusted position by means of set screws indicated at 51 or may be provided with some form of spring tensioning means to hold the pressure rollers against the feed rollers if desired.

The moving web upon passing from the feed rollers |5-|5 and between the cutter cylinders |8-l8 is cut into sheets which pass between the feed rollers |9 and pressure rollers 5|, and between the feed rollers 2| and pressure rollers 54 to be further forwarded thereby. Due to the higher speed of the rollers I9 and 2| as compared with the speed of the feed rollers |5-|5, the web is placed under tension and thereby pulled taut between the cutting cylinders and is, therefore, easily severed when the cutting knives 20 engage same. When adjusting the pressure rollers, the upper set 5| is preferably set closer to its associating feed rollers than the lower set 52 to insure a tight grip upon the web in order to maintain same in a taut condition during the severing operation. After the sheet is severed from the web, it will be forwarded to the printing cylinders at the same speed as that at which the said cylinders are rotated, and upon reaching the printing cylinders, will be gripped by suitable gripper mechanism indicated at 58 on the impression cylinder 23.

It is intended to space the first set of forwarding rollers l9 from the cutting cylinders I8 an amount slightly less than the length of the shortest sheet to be severed from the web to insure positive gripping and folding of the sheet. It will be noted that the arrangement of the web folding rollers |5-|5 and idler roller I6 is such as to prevent slippage of the web past these rollers under urge of the faster rotating forwarding rollers l9. By leading the web between one roller l6 and idler roller l6, over the idler roller l6 and then between it and the other roller |5, any tension or pull imposed or exerted upon the web by the forwarding rollers l 9 will urge the idler roller It more tightly against each roller l5 and thereby tighten the grip thereof upon the web.

Suitable guides are provided between the web' feeding rollers l5--l5 and the cutting cylinders as indicated at 59, also between the said cutting cylinders and the printing cylinders as indicated at 65, to guide the web and sheets in a straight path.

It will be observed from the foregoing that an improved arrangement has been provided by feeding a web between cutting cylinders in a taut condition to improve the shearing action of the cutting knives, and that the feed of the web and sheets in a vertical direction provides a more practical feed than would be provided by feeding the web in a horizontal direction. Furthermore, with the feed rollers, which forward the cut sheets to the printing cylinder, running at the same surface speed as the printing cylinders, the timing of the sheet gripper mechanism on the impression cylinder is easily controlled. A further improvement is provided in feeding the web and sheets downward in a substantially vertical direction, which thus eliminates the use of tapes and the like as are ordinarily used when feeding sheets in a horizontal direction.

It will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiment he considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a rotary printing machine adapted to print on sheets cut from a web, a rotary cutting mechanism running at a fixed speed with relation to the machine, cooperating printing cylinders, forwarding means disposed between the printing cylinders and the cutting mechanism including spaced apart rollers disposed at and engaging one side of the web and the sheets cut therefrom and driven at substantially the speed of the machine, and spaced apart pressure rollers disposed at and engaging the other side of the web and sheets, said pressure rollers cooperating with said driven rollers to feed the web and sheets toward the printing cylinders, the. cooperating driven and pressure rollers adjacent said cutting mechanism being adapted to exert a constant pull upon the web portion between the cutting mechanism and the rollers to maintain it taut, while the cutting operation is performed.

2. In a rotary printing machine adapted to' print on sheets cut from a web, a rotary cutting mechanism running at a fixed speed with relation to the machine, cooperating printing cylinders, web feeding members positioned ahead of the cutting mechanism, forwarding means disposed between the printing cylinders and the cutting mechanism including driven rollers and pressure rollers adapted to engage the front and rear sides of the leading end of the web respectively and driven at a speed which is greater than that of the web feed members to thereby exert a constant pull upon the web portion between said web feeding members and said forwarding means to maintain the Web in a taut condition whe cutting same.

3. In a rotary printing machine adapted to print on sheets cut from a web, a rotary cutting mechanism running at a fixed speed with relation to the machine, web feeding members positioned ahead of the cutting mechanism, cooperating printing cylinders, forwarding means disposed between the printing cylinders and the cutting mechanism and driven at substantially cylinder speed, said forwarding means including one set of driven rollers and pressure rollers adapted to engage the front and rear sides. of the leading end of the web respectively and to exert a constant pull upon the web portion between said web feeding members and said forwarding means to maintain the web in a taut condition during the cutting operation and a second set of driven rollers and pressure rollers adapted to engage the front and rear sides of the cut sheet to finally feed the sheet to the printing cylinders. 1 4. In a rotary printing machine adapted to print on sheets cut from ,a web, a rotary cutting mechanism running at a fixed speed with relation to the machine, cooperating printing cylinders, web feeding members positioned ahead of the cutting mechanism, forwarding means disposed between the printing cylinders and the cutting mechanism including driven rollers and pressure rollers adapted to engagethe front and rear sides of the leading end of the web re- 2 spectively and driven at a speed which is greater than that of the web feeding members to exert a constant pull upon the web portion between said web feeding members and said forwarding means to maintain the web in a taut condition during the cutting operation, a variable speed web feeding device cooperating with the web feeding members, and means to regulate the speed of the feeding device to produce sheets varying in length as desired. 3 5. In a rotary printing machine adapted to print on sheets cut from a web, a rotary cutting mechanism including a pair of cooperating web severing knives running at a fixed speed with relation to the machine and adapted to cut a 4 web without engaging it otherwise than by the edges of the knives, cooperating printing cylinders, web feeding members positioned ahead of the cutting mechanism, and forwarding means disposed between the printing cylinders and the 4 cutting mechanism including driven rollers and pressure rollers adapted to engage the front and rear sides of the leading end of the web respectively and driven at a speed which is greater than that of the web feeding members to exert a con- 5 stant pull upon the web portion between said web feeding members and said forwarding means to maintain the web in a taut condition when said web is cut and to forward a cut sheet to the printing cylinders. 6. In a rotary printing machine adapted to print on sheets cut from a web, a rotary cutting mechanism including a pair of cooperating web severing knives running at a fixed speed with relation to the machine and adapted to cut a. web without engaging it otherwise than by the edges of the knives, cooperating printing cylinders, web feeding members positioned ahead of the cutting mechanism, forwarding means disposed between the printing cylinders and the cutting mechanism including driven rollers and pressure rollers adapted to engage the front and rear sides of the leading end of the web respectively and driven at a speed which is greater than that of the web feeding members to exert a constant pull upon the web portion between said web feeding members and said forwarding means to maintain the web in a. taut condition when said web is cut and to forward a cut sheet to the printing cylinders, a variable speed web feeding device, and means to 7 regulate the speed of the feeding device to produce sheets varying in length as desired.

'7. In a rotary printing machine adapted to print on sheets cut from a web, a rotary cutting mechanism including a pair of cooperating web severing knives running at a fixed speed with relation to the machine and adapted to cut a web without engaging it otherwise than by the edges of the knives, cooperating printing cylinders positioned below said cutting mechanism, forwarding means disposed between the printing cylinders and the cutting mechanism and driven at substantially cylinder speed, said forwarding means including one set of driven rollers and pressure rollers positioned directly below the cutting mechanism and adapted to engage the front and rear sides of the leading end of the web and to exert a constant pull upon the web portion between said web feeding members and said forwarding means to maintain the web in a taut condition during the cutting operation, a second set of driven rollers and pressure rollers positioned below the first named set of rollers and adapted to engage the front and rear sides of the leading end of a cut sheet to feed the sheet to the printing cyl inders, a variable speed web feeding device positioned above the cutting mechanism, and means to regulate the speed of the feeding device to produce sheets varying in length as desired.

8. In a rotary printing machine adapted to print on sheets severed from a web, rotary means to receive the web from a source of supply and feed it forwardly, means to vary the speed of said means, rotary means to receive the web from said feeding means and to sever sheets therefrom, and means directly following said last named means to engage the web portion to be severed and to constantly urge it forwardly at a faster rate of speed than it is fed by said feeding means before it is secured.

9. In a rotary printing machine adapted'to print on sheets severed from a web, adjustable speed rotary web feeding means, rotary web forwarding means spaced from said web feeding means to engage the web and feed it forwardly, and rotating faster than said web feeding means to constantly exert a tension on the web portion therebetween, and a web severing mechanism disposed between said web feeding and forwarding means and operable to cut the web into sheets as it is under tension.

10. In a rotary printing machine, rotaryv web feeding means comprising a set of cooperating rolls between which the web passes and by which it is engaged and fed forwardly, a web cutting mechanism into which the web is fed by said feeding means, and a set of rotating web forwarding rolls spaced from said cutting mechanism an amount less than the length of the web portion being cut, means to rotate said web forwarding rolls at a speed to impose a tension on the web portion between said web feeding rolls and said web forwarding rolls, one of said web feeding rolls being movable relatively to another to increasingly grip said web as the tension on the web is increased.

11. In a rotary printing machine, a cutting mechanism, a web feeding mechanism, said feeding mechanism comprising a driven roll and an idler roll arranged to receive the web therebetween and over said idler roll, and rotary means engaging the web after it leaves said feeding mechanism and imposing a tension on the web to urge said idler roll into closer relationship with said driven roll to more tightly grip the web therebetween.

12. In a machine adapted to operate upon a web, a pair of rotatable and cooperating knives adapted to cut the web into sheets, rotary means to grip the web and feed it between said knives, said rotary web gripping means being arranged to feed the web at any of a plurality of speeds relative to the speed of said knives, rotary means to receive the web as it passes between said knives and before it is cut into sheets, and means to operate said rotary web receiving means to impose a tension on the web before it is cut into sheets, and to move the sheets away from said knives after they are cut from the web at a faster rate of speed than the web is fed thereto by said rotary web gripping means.

13. In a rotary printing machine adapted to print on sheets severed from a web, feeding rollers adapted to be driven at anyone of a plurality of speeds, forwarding rollers driven at a speed greater than the maximum speed of the feeding rollers, and clean cutting cylinders driven at a fixed speed and mounted for movement into any desired angular position in respect to the run of the web.

14. In a rotary printing machine adapted to print on sheets severed from a web, cooperating printing cylinders driven at normal machine speed, angularly disposable clean cutting cylinders driven at a determined fixed speed, feed rolls in advance of said cutting cylinders and adapted to be driven at any one of a plurality of speeds, and sheet forwarding rollers following said cutting cylinders and driven at the speed of said printing cylinders.

ADOLPH M. ZUCKERMAN. 

